Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Gunmen shot and wounded an Indonesian soldier yesterday in almost the same place that a fortnight ago gunmen killed three employees of a giant US mine in West Papua.

Sources close to the Freeport gold and copper mine said gunmen attacked Indonesian military about 12.25pm, wounding a soldier in the leg and arm in an incident sure to add to growing unease among the 16,000 workforce at the mine. There were unconfirmed reports that gunmen fired at soldiers on Friday, although no one was reported injured.

In yesterday's shooting four soldiers were in a four-wheel-drive vehicle taking food to a military post when their car was hit three times by gunfire. The soldiers returned fire and gave chase but could not locate the gunmen.

Milepost 62 is the same area where the teaching staff of Freeport's international school were fired on two weeks ago and three people were killed and eight wounded.

The shooting left the 75 children at the school in Freeport's mountain mining town of Tembagapura without teachers. Yesterday's incident will make it increasingly difficult to find replacement teachers and is certain to encourage some expatriates to consider leaving.